Shoulder rig or Flycam Nano??

My girlfriend's best friend is getting married, and my gf is maid of honor. Amongst helping with all the wedding planning and stuff, my gf is also taking the bride to be's engagement photos (I'm taking/editing the pictures, my gf is instructing all of the poses and what not), for free. The bride is working with a tight budget for everything (only has $1500 to spend on a wedding photog). I had posted a picture of my camera with the newly loaded Magic Lantern on Facebook, explaining that it unlocked a bunch of video features, etc. She apparently didn't know my camera also did video, said she "just might have to hire me to film her wedding." Since I don't shoot a ton of video, let alone ever doing a wedding, I told her that's a huge responsiblity. That I wouldn't mind filming, but I definitely wouldn't want to be the main videographer due to I wouldn't know how to begin shooting/editing a wedding. She ensures me not to worry, and that she wasn't going to hire one to begin with.

Here's my predicament. She's my gf's best friend, so I want to help her out as much as I can. However, I'm already shooting and editing her engagement photos at no charge, and I think that shooting a wedding would be a TON more work. What's the going rate for a videographer anyways? Don't they start around $2,000 and go up? I want to help her out as much as possible, but also don't want to have my time taken advantage of without being compensated somehow.

Instead of asking her for money, I was going to see if she'd rather just purchase some sort of filming rig for me, so I can shoot smoother video at her wedding. I've been looking at the Flycam Nano for quite some time now. I'd like to shoot my buddy's mountain biking (able to chase them with the flycam), take video's at BBQ's and car meets, etc.

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Depends what look you are going for.

The shoulder rig is more for steady stabilization, while the steadicam rigs are meant for flowing shots while maintaining a human dolly experience.

IMO, never skimp out on shoulder/steadicam gear. If you buy the right models, they will last you for years and years. If you buy 3rd party, or buy cheap knockoffs, expect it to last through 1-2 shoots.

Best for low budget moving camera stabilization: http://www.tiffen.com/​steadicam_merlin2.html

Best for shoulder rigs: http://www.genustech.t​v …-kits/shoulder-mount-kits

I hardly ever see some one using camera stabilizer for wedding coverage.
I say go with a wide angle lens, practice with your light (Hopefully you already have good LED), battery, memory, external sound recording, then most importantely your post processing technique to render. I would run a mook video trial, not necessarily of a wedding but of similar time duration event to know what can go wrong and there are plenty.
Best of luck.

I say get yourself a great monopod like the Manfrotto 561B HDV-1.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …37980&is=REG&Q=​&A=details

Very useful stablization, easy on your body, can be used to raise above your head or down low. Some great videos have been shot using this with a DSLR.

ChasWG wrote in post #15501046
I say get yourself a great monopod like the Manfrotto 561B HDV-1.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …37980&is=REG&Q=​&A=details

Very useful stablization, easy on your body, can be used to raise above your head or down low. Some great videos have been shot using this with a DSLR.

Came here to say this. If not the 561BHDV, get a monopod with a decent head on it. So much more useful in a wedding, especially if it's a one man band, you're going to have to move around a lot, and monopod can get into places steadycams and rigs can't.

Do you plan on doing this kind of work in the future? Because it is a lot of work, and even if you're doing it for free, it can become reel material for you to sell to other potential clients. It's hard to persuade a couple pay up a ton of money if you don't show anything to justify the cost.

squiLL wrote in post #15500854
Best for low budget moving camera stabilization: http://www.tiffen.com/​steadicam_merlin2.html

Best for shoulder rigs: http://www.genustech.t​v …-kits/shoulder-mount-kits

Both of those kits are really nice, but definitely outside my budget (and most likely hers too). This will probably be the only wedding I'd shoot. I don't have a huge interest in shooting/editing weddings. Just seems like too much stress. I enjoy car meets and the mountain bike stuff more. Maybe the occasional day at the shooting range doing tactical type shooting where I can chase the shooter.

samsen wrote in post #15500969
I hardly ever see some one using camera stabilizer for wedding coverage.
I say go with a wide angle lens, practice with your light (Hopefully you already have good LED), battery, memory, external sound recording, then most importantely your post processing technique to render. I would run a mook video trial, not necessarily of a wedding but of similar time duration event to know what can go wrong and there are plenty.
Best of luck.

Out of the lenses listed in my sig, what would you recommend? I was thinking the 35mm would probably be the one.

ChasWG wrote in post #15501046
I say get yourself a great monopod like the Manfrotto 561B HDV-1.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …37980&is=REG&Q=​&A=details

Very useful stablization, easy on your body, can be used to raise above your head or down low. Some great videos have been shot using this with a DSLR.

That's an option I didn't think of before. I was more concerned about how "shaky" the video would be if I didn't have something to stabalize it. But I guess I could always just shoot static shots. Get a shot of everyone coming down the isle, and then stand at the opposite end of the isle, while the ceremony goes on.

QUOTE=s.l.k;15501126]C​ame here to say this. If not the 561BHDV, get a monopod with a decent head on it. So much more useful in a wedding, especially if it's a one man band, you're going to have to move around a lot, and monopod can get into places steadycams and rigs can't.

Do you plan on doing this kind of work in the future? Because it is a lot of work, and even if you're doing it for free, it can become reel material for you to sell to other potential clients. It's hard to persuade a couple pay up a ton of money if you don't show anything to justify the cost.

I most definitely do not plan on doing weddings in the future. This will most likely be a one time gig.

No, that mono pod has a very cool feature. The bottom foot thingie has a bearing piviot point, so pans are easily done.

I worked with a company called StillMotion on a ShowTime/CBS Sports documentary called "A Game of Honor." It was shot mostly on 1D MkIVs and they all used the same monopod I posted above. Super cool shots and footy. The monopod was very fast and effective. The head has a tilt function as well, so it is very functional. And for the money, a great investment if you continue on doing this kind of thing.

ChasWG wrote in post #15501046
I say get yourself a great monopod like the Manfrotto 561B HDV-1.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …37980&is=REG&Q=​&A=details

Very useful stablization, easy on your body, can be used to raise above your head or down low. Some great videos have been shot using this with a DSLR.

+1,000,000

The 561 BHDV-1 is the absolute best stabilizing tool for shooting wedding video that exists IMHO. I shoot weddings and this monopod is what I use 80% of the time. I have nice tripods with fluid heads, a few really nice sliders, Steadicam, Glidecam, shoulder rigs, run and gun rigs, BUT I could easily get by with just having this little monopod. You can mimic jib moves with it, you can mimic slider moves and it can be very very stable for static shots with smooth pans and tilts. Even if you don't shoot weddings this is still a great little tool. I have a friend with a small production company that shoots web programming on motorcycle riding and he lives on this monopod.

That said, my 2nd purchase would be a decent slider. That's just me though and what I like to see in a film. There are plenty of fairly priced sliders out there like the Varavon or Konova. Depending on your budget, I'd look there after getting that 561. If you have the budget, Cinevate makes a real nice one in the Atlas FLT.

I have had the Merlin (which I didn't like and later sold) and now have the Glidecam HD-2000. The Merlin is more difficult to balance well and you have only a little half to 3/4 inch disc to pinch for stabilizing the Merlin while moving. It takes a great deal more practice to get really proficient with the Merlin. The Glidecam however is easier to balance and when you get it dialed in, it's money. Both take practice and care to get really smooth shots but the Glidecam's learning curve isn't quite as steep IMHO. There are also some decent Chinese knockoffs of the HD-2000 if you're on a tight budget.

Check out Cheesycam.com. Emm has a lot of great advice for filmmakers on a tight budget. He does some good honest reviews on stuff as well. Good luck!

"http://www.ebay.com …ain_0&hash=item​565155f12d

Also, how effective is the follow focus? I see a lot of other rigs with them, and it seems like it'd be a lot easier to focus with something like that. I don't want to have a huge budget setup, just something that will work for the wedding, and hopefully something I can use for other filming as well.

Help me out! I'm taking her engagement photos on saturday, and would like to message her before then. Thank you.[/QUOTE]"


Hello mikealicious, recently i bought shoulder steady rig with matte box . This shoulder rig has fulfilled my expectations. Its quality is well built and price is also less. I am happy with my purchase.

While I would go with a higher-quality monopod/head, this guy has some REALLY cool ideas for greatly increasing the versatility of a monopod and make it run triple duty as a monopod/shoulder rig/(sort-of)crane:

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=EzelLm4STCk

The most important accessories for my DSLR video are a LCD viewfinder and a tripod. It is radically easier to focus with a viewfinder, and its far more important than a follow focus. You will absolutley need the tripod to film the actual ceremony, keep the camera still and close to the BG, and get reasonably good audio from your shotgun mic. After that, a video monopod is a good idea and better than a shoulder mount. You should find out before the wedding day what the church's rules on where you can put your video camera to determine your lens choices.

Using a steadicam for the first time on an event like this is asking for trouble, prevents you from using your any zoom, and you will need to re stabilize every time you change the lens.